[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 25 (Friday, February 6, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5880-5881]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-2620]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-315 and 50-316]


Indiana Michigan Power Company, Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant; 
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and 
Conduct Scoping Process

    Indiana Michigan Power Company (I&M) has submitted an application 
for renewal of Facility Operating Licenses, DPR-58 and DPR-74 for an 
additional 20 years of operation at the Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant 
(Cook), Units 1 and 2 (CNP). CNP is located in Berrien County, 
Michigan, about 55 miles east of Chicago, Illinois. The operating 
licenses for Cook Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, expire on October 25, 
2014, and December 23, 2017, respectively. The application for renewal 
was received on November 3, 2003, pursuant to 10 CFR part 54. A notice 
of receipt and availability of the application, which included the 
environmental report (ER), was published in the Federal Register on 
November 10, 2003 (68 FR 63824). A notice of acceptance for docketing 
of the application for renewal of the facility operating license was 
published in the Federal Register on December 10, 2003 (68 FR 68956). 
The purpose of this notice is to inform the public that the U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will be preparing an environmental 
impact statement (EIS) in support of the review of the license renewal 
application and to provide the public an opportunity to participate in 
the environmental scoping process, as defined in 10 CFR 51.29. In 
addition, as outlined in 36 CFR 800.8, ``Coordination with the National 
Environmental Policy Act,'' the NRC plans to coordinate compliance with 
section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act in meeting the 
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA).
    In accordance with 10 CFR 51.53(c) and 10 CFR 54.23, I&M submitted 
the ER as part of the application. The ER was prepared pursuant to 10 
CFR part 51 and is available for public inspection at the NRC Public 
Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 
Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland 20852, or from the Publicly 
Available Records component of NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and 
Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html, which provides access through the NRC's 
Electronic Reading Room link. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, 
or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, 
should contact the NRC's PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, or 301-
415-4737, or by e-mail to [email protected]. The application may also be 
viewed on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/cook.html. In addition, the Bridgman 
Public Library, 4460 Lake Street, Bridgman, Michigan and the Maud 
Preston Palenske Memorial Library, 500 Market Street, St. Joseph, 
Michigan have agreed to make the ER available for public inspection.
    This notice advises the public that the NRC intends to gather the 
information necessary to prepare a plant-specific supplement to the 
Commission's ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for 
License Renewal of Nuclear Plants,'' (NUREG-1437) in support of the 
review of the application for renewal of the CNP operating licenses for 
an additional 20 years. Possible alternatives to the proposed action 
(license renewal) include no action and reasonable alternative energy 
sources. The NRC is required by 10 CFR 51.95 to prepare a supplement to 
the GEIS in connection with the renewal of an operating license. This 
notice is being published in accordance with the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and the NRC's regulations found in 10 CFR 
part 51.
    The NRC will first conduct a scoping process for the supplement to 
the GEIS and, as soon as practicable thereafter, will prepare a draft 
supplement to the GEIS for public comment. Participation in the scoping 
process by members of the public and local, State, tribal, and Federal 
government agencies is encouraged. The scoping process for the 
supplement to the GEIS will be used to accomplish the following:
    a. Define the proposed action which is to be the subject of the 
supplement to the GEIS.
    b. Determine the scope of the supplement to the GEIS and identify 
the significant issues to be analyzed in depth.
    c. Identify and eliminate from detailed study those issues that are 
peripheral or that are not significant.
    d. Identify any environmental assessments and other EISs that are 
being or will be prepared that are related to, but are not part of the 
scope of the supplement to the GEIS being considered.
    e. Identify other environmental review and consultation 
requirements related to the proposed action.
    f. Indicate the relationship between the timing of the preparation 
of the environmental analyses and the Commission's tentative planning 
and decision-making schedule.
    g. Identify any cooperating agencies and, as appropriate, allocate 
assignments for preparation and schedules for completing the supplement 
to the GEIS to the NRC and any cooperating agencies.
    h. Describe how the supplement to the GEIS will be prepared, and 
include any contractor assistance to be used.
    The NRC invites the following entities to participate in scoping:
    a. The applicant, Indiana Michigan Power Company.
    b. Any Federal agency that has jurisdiction by law or special 
expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved, or that is 
authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards.
    c. Affected State and local government agencies, including those 
authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards.
    d. Any affected Indian tribe.
    e. Any person who requests or has requested an opportunity to 
participate in the scoping process.
    f. Any person who has petitioned or intends to petition for leave 
to intervene.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 51.26, the scoping process for an EIS may 
include a public scoping meeting to help identify significant issues 
related to a proposed activity and to determine the scope of issues to 
be addressed in an EIS. The NRC has decided to hold public meetings for 
the CNP license renewal supplement to the GEIS. The scoping meetings 
will be held at the Lake Charter Township Hall, 3220 Shawnee Road, 
Bridgman, Michigan, on Monday, March 8, 2004. There will be two 
sessions to accommodate interested parties. The first session will 
convene at 1:30 p.m. and will continue until 4:30 p.m., as necessary. 
The second session will convene at 7 p.m. with a repeat of the overview 
portions of the meeting and will continue until 10 p.m., as necessary. 
Both meetings will be transcribed and will include (1) an overview by 
the NRC staff of the NEPA environmental review process, the proposed 
scope of the supplement to the GEIS, and the proposed review schedule; 
and (2) the opportunity for interested government agencies,

[[Page 5881]]

organizations, and individuals to submit comments or suggestions on the 
environmental issues or the proposed scope of the supplement to the 
GEIS. Additionally, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one 
hour before the start of each session at the Lake Charter Township 
Hall. No formal comments on the proposed scope of the supplement to the 
GEIS will be accepted during the informal discussions. To be 
considered, comments must be provided either at the transcribed public 
meetings or in writing, as discussed below. Persons may register to 
attend or present oral comments at the meetings on the scope of the 
NEPA review by contacting Mr. Robert Schaaf, by telephone at 1-800-368-
5642, extension 1312, or by Internet to the NRC at [email protected] no 
later than March 3, 2004. Members of the public may also register to 
speak at the meeting within 15 minutes of the start of each session. 
Individual oral comments may be limited by the time available, 
depending on the number of persons who register. Members of the public 
who have not registered may also have an opportunity to speak, if time 
permits. Public comments will be considered in the scoping process for 
the supplement to the GEIS. Mr. Schaaf will need to be contacted no 
later than March 1, 2004, if special equipment or accommodations are 
needed to attend or present information at the public meeting, so that 
the NRC staff can determine whether the request can be accommodated.
    Members of the public may send written comments on the 
environmental scope of the CNP license renewal review to the Chief, 
Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, 
Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and should cite the publication 
date and page number of this Federal Register notice. Comments may also 
be delivered to the NRC, Room T-6D59, Two White Flint North, 11545 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. during 
Federal workdays. To be considered in the scoping process, written 
comments should be postmarked by April 6, 2004. Electronic comments may 
be sent by the Internet to the NRC at [email protected] and should be 
sent no later than April 6, 2004, to be considered in the scoping 
process. Comments will be available electronically and accessible 
through ADAMS at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
    Participation in the scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS 
does not entitle participants to become parties to the proceeding to 
which the supplement to the GEIS relates. Notice of opportunity for a 
hearing regarding the renewal application was the subject of the 
aforementioned Federal Register notice (68 FR 62640). Matters related 
to participation in any hearing are outside the scope of matters to be 
discussed at this public meeting.
    At the conclusion of the scoping process, the NRC will prepare a 
concise summary of the determination and conclusions reached, including 
the significant issues identified, and will send a copy of the summary 
to each participant in the scoping process. The summary will also be 
available for inspection in ADAMS at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The staff will then prepare and issue for comment the draft 
supplement to the GEIS, which will be the subject of separate notices 
and separate public meetings. Copies will be available for public 
inspection at the above-mentioned addresses, and one copy per request 
will be provided free of charge. After receipt and consideration of the 
comments, the NRC will prepare a final supplement to the GEIS, which 
will also be available for public inspection.
    Information about the proposed action, the supplement to the GEIS, 
and the scoping process may be obtained from Mr. Schaaf at the 
aforementioned telephone number or e-mail address.

    Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of January, 2004.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Pao-Tsin Kuo,
Program Director, License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program, 
Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 04-2620 Filed 2-5-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P